Los Angeles, CA (September 25, 2019)－The five-day Catalina Film Festival (CFF) celebrates its 9th annual festival in coastal sister cities with iconic and historic film venues. The continued partnership with Long Beach connects the island festival’s experience to the mainland Sept. 25-29, 2019, bookending CFF with “launch” and “landing” premieres, parties and panels Wednesday-Thursday and Sunday in Long Beach. Catalina Island will play host to CFF Friday and Saturday, with Festival-chartered cruises to and from the Queen Mary Terminal daily.

Thriller Thursday includes the Wes Craven Horror Block at 6 p.m. – the only festival award sanctioned by the king of horror. Catalina Film Fest’s Film & New Media Summit also kicks off on the Queen Mary with a Film Finance panel (10 a.m.) and Making your First Feature Film (12:30 p.m.), plus a Spotlight Interview at 2:30 p.m. with actress Lesley Ann Warren moderated by film historian, Jim Hemphill.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY (SEPT. 27-28): CATALINA TRIBUTE TO ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS MIRA SORVINO. The Festival heads to Catalina Island for two full days of premieres, panels and events. Daily roundtrip cruises are available from Long Beach. Island action includes:

Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite, Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion) will be honored with the Avalon Award, plus the World Premiere of Badland, starring Sorvino, Kevin Makely (Big Legend) also confirmed to attend, Bruce Dern (The Hateful Eight), and Trace Adkins (I Can Only Imagine), Sept. 28.

Lion’s Den Pitch Panel. Stacked with prospective film investors, this pitch-fest matched accredited investors with filmmakers seeking funding for their projects on Friday.

NEW THIS YEAR: CFF’s new streaming channel features 67 official selections in competition for the 2019 Film Festival, allowing festival channel passholders to watch films in competition and vote for their favorites. For more info, visit filmfestivalflix.com/festival/catalina-film-channel/